A workplace is where you spend more than half of your active life. Hence the way you maintain your relations in a workplace can affect your life in a great way. While personal hygiene and health may appear to be an insignificant part of one’s personality, it usually has a great impact on the impression one creates in a workplace.
There are many things one needs to keep in mind to stay hygienic and create a positive impression on co-workers and bosses. Here are a few tips to address personal hygiene you should inculcate in the workplace.
Dealing with Personal Hygiene in the Workplace:
The following mentioned are few tips on dealing issues regarding good personal hygiene at work and also some workplace health and safety tips.
1. Body Odour Can Be Repulsive:
Some individuals sweat much more than others. Such individuals need to take extra care to ensure that the body odor doesn’t annoy people around you. There are some simple steps to help you deal with the body odor problem. Here we have listed them out for you.
Usually, men with unshaven armpits have more body odour problems than men who are perfectly groomed. If you have an odour problem, avoid the macho look and prefer to stay well groomed. This will reduce your body odour problem to half.
You can purchase a long lasting deodorant to get rid of excessive body odour. There are countless deodorants in the market but few are really effective. Take your time to shop for the right deodorant. Do not opt for really strong deodorants that may smell as repulsive as the body odour itself.
2. Get Rid of Bad Breath:
While we may not really be aware of a foul breath, people around us realize it instantly. When you are working in an organization, you need to take extra care that your breath isn’t foul. There are some really simple ways to avoid a foul breath.
As soon as you finish eating your lunch or tea time snacks, make it a point to wash and rinse your mouth. It is when food particles stay in your mouth for a long time that foul breath is caused.
You may also opt for natural mouth fresheners like cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and others that help you get rid of a foul breath. These are also known to be good for oral health.
The last option would surely be to try artificial mouth fresheners and fresh mints. These are readily available in shops.
3. Perfect Grooming is a Part of Good Hygiene:
Many individuals have a habit of rushing to the office. In the course, they tend to neglect basic grooming that may seem not so important. These include trivial aspects like combing one’s hair, polishing shoes and ironing one’s clothes before wearing them.
Remember that these small things are also noticed in a workplace. At the lower levels of your hierarchy, these things may not be noticed. But as you start ascending the success ladder and hold an important position in an organization, these things also start to count.
It is better to make it a habit of staying perfectly groomed. This will help you as you get more successful. Drastic changes are always difficult but regular grooming is sure a good habit to inculcate.
4. Beware of Smelly Socks:
Yes, if you sweat a lot, your socks may just give you away. Smelly socks can really drive people away. You need to make sure that your socks don’t smell as soon as you remove your shoes.
A good option is to carry an extra pair of socks if you sweat a lot. This way, you may choose to wear the fresh pair when the first pair is drenched in sweat.
If you have an option to remove the socks while working in your cabin, you may also give it a try. This way your feet also stay fresh and your socks don’t smell when you wear it during formal meetings.
5. Don’t Pack Tiffin Unwashed:
Most working individuals carry tiffin along with them because it is not really affordable to eat out every day. After eating, if you pack the tiffin back into your bag without washing it, the food particles that remain on it decay. The rotten smell can be horrible and truly unbearable.
It is thus a good practice to wash your tiffin after lunch before you place it in your bag. Even if you do not wash it thoroughly with a dish soap, make sure you rinse it thoroughly with water.
6. Take Special Care During Infections:
When you work in an organization, you have a certain responsibility towards your teammates and co-workers. When you have infections that are serious, you may have to take leave and stay at home. Even with minor infections which you can work with, special care needs to be taken to ensure that they don’t spread in your workplace.
If you suffer from conjunctivitis, make sure you wear sunglasses to prevent the spread of the infection among your teammates.
If you are suffering from common cold, you need to ensure that you carry napkins and tissues along with you to your office. Do not share your napkins with others as this may cause spread of infections. Make it a point to cover your mouth when you sneeze.
If you have a wound or an injury, make sure you clean it thoroughly and cover it with a proper bandage. This is a great way to protect the injury from dust particles.
7. Useful Accessories To Stay Hygienic:
Staying hygienic is no more a great challenge. There are many simple yet useful accessories that can help you stay healthy and hygienic at your workplace. Here we have listed a few of these vital things
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Hand Sanitizer:
Hand sanitizer comes handy especially if you are on a traveling job. When you are traveling and you do not have an option to wash your hands, a hand sanitizer can help to keep your hands fresh and healthy. You can purchase hand sanitizers from any of the nearby medical shops.
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Soft Tissues:
You never know when you may need a tissue to wipe your face. Soft tissues are ideal because they are not rough like the regular party tissues. They clean your skin without harming it.
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Cotton Balls:
Cotton balls can be particularly useful for office going women. Cotton balls are ideal to clean your makeup smudges. It helps you get the perfect look by eliminating irregularities in the makeup.
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Paper Soap:
One challenging situation that may arise in a traveling job is not finding a hand wash or soap in washrooms of trains or other modes of transport. It is thus a wise idea to carry paper soap. These occupy very less space in the bag. You can take out a strip of paper soap when you wish to wash your hands. Make sure the paper soap is stored in a dry compartment of your bag.
The above mentioned are few personal hygiene tips to follow to good health and safety at work and avoid health based workplace hazards.
Other poor personal hygiene habits you should consider at the workplace:
1. Take Measures if you Suffer from Excessive Hair Fall:
While men, as well as women, suffer from hair fall problems, it can cause a greater issue for working women. If you suffer from excessive hair fall, it is quite possible that your hair may fly about and cause trouble to people around you.
Women usually have longer hair and hair fall can cause a menace in their work lives. Hair flying about in your workplace is not just annoying; it may also act as a nuisance if it falls in someone’s food or enters corners and crevices.
If you are facing this problem, make it a point to comb your hair at regular intervals. This way, the weak hair will come out while you comb and it will not fall away when you don’t expect it to. It is also a great idea to have a dustbin close to your desk. This way, you can dispose of hair that fall while you are working without causing trouble to others.
You may also try out different hair fall solutions that claim to reduce or curb hair fall problem.
2. Untidy Desk Can Have a Negative Impact:
We often tend to keep our office desk in a haphazard manner while working. Most of us are comfortable working in an environment where things are not unnaturally organized.
You need to however make sure that the desk is tidy when you leave the workplace after completing your office hours. This is because your bosses or your co-workers can have a negative impression if they see an untidy desk.
The first tip to keep your desk tidy is to have a place for everything. You need to have a drawer to place all your documents that you won’t be carrying home. You also need to have a mobile stand, pen stand and laptop cover. When you return everything to its rightful place, the desk will automatically appear tidy.
You must never leave scrap around. Make sure you throw all the waste in a waste basket. This shows that you are neatness conscious and extremely hygienic.
Proper personal hygiene habits can decide your career prospects and sometimes it is just a bad impression that makes you lose a good opportunity. So make sure you inculcate these habits for a stable career.
